State and Society in Communist Czechoslovakia: Transforming the Everyday from WWII to the Fall of the Berlin Wall Contributor(s): Krakovsky, Roman (Author) |
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ISBN: 0755600134 ISBN-13: 9780755600137 Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic OUR PRICE: $44.50 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: February 2020 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - History | Modern - 20th Century - Political Science | Political Ideologies - Communism, Post-communism & Socialism - History | Eastern Europe - General |
Physical Information: 0.72" H x 5.5" W x 8.5" (0.88 lbs) 352 pages |
Themes: - Cultural Region - Eastern Europe - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Across central and eastern Europe after World War II, the newly established communist regimes promised a drastic social revolution that would transform the world at great pace and pave the way to a socialist future. Although many aspects of this utopian project are well known - such as fast-paced industrialisation, collectivisation and urbanisation - the regimes even sought to transform the ways in which their citizens interacted with each other and the world around them. Using a unique analytical model based on an amalgam of anthropology, sociology, history and extensive archival research, award-winning scholar Roman Krakovsky here considers the Czechoslovakian attempt to 'reinvent the world' - 'time' and 'space' included - in this all-encompassing way. Ranging from WWII to the fall of the Berlin Wall, his innovative analysis variously considers the impact of Stakhanovism, the impossible-to-achieve production targets intended to assert socialism's future potential; the attempt to replace Sunday's Christian attributes with socialist ones; and the profound changes brought about to the public and private spheres, including the culture of informing and the ways this was circumvented. |